Pneumatic player action for musical instruments



July 21,1925. 1,547,020

T. P. BROWN PNEUMATIC PLAYER ACTION FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Filed Nov. 7, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 REROLL ROLL 5a 50 l KEY BED Jul 21, 1925. 1,547,020

T. P. BROWN PNEUMATIC PLAYER ACTION FOR MUSIQAL INSTRUMENTS Filed Nov. 7, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W W z W 0 r M 1 ,1 JJI 5 I F r :I. 9 a a Patented July 21, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE P. BROWN, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO EARLE E. CONWAY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, CARLE C. CON\VAY, OF NEW YO'RKyN. Y.,

AND THE SAID THEODORE P. BROWN, PLAYER ACTION COMPANY.

PNEUMATIC PLAYER ACTION Application filed November T 0 all whom z't'mag conccm Be it known that I, Tnnooonn P, BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at \Vorcester, in the county of l Vorcester and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in a Pneumatic Player Action for Musical Instruments, of which the following, together with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to pneumatic player actions for musical instruments and has for its object to provide an improved arrangement of the parts for actuating a player action, whereby the operation of the instrument is greatly improved.

When operating pneumatic player pianos of the type heretofore constructed, it has been found that when the operator first starts pumping to exhaust the usual bellows or air reservoir, the vacuum produced dur ing the first few minutes of pump-ing is usually not great enough to sii'nultaneously seat all of the valves controlling the pneumatics. Consequently, the valves often tend to flutter, particularly if the operator fails to pump strongly, thereby resulting in objectionable noises prior to the playing of a music sheet by the instrument.

By my invention, I propose to substan tially eliminate all possibility of the valves fluttering by providing improved means whereby the suction created by the pump is not applied to the valves until the air reservoir or bellows has been collapsed a sufficient amount to provide enough suction to positively seat all of the valves at once, preparatory to playing a music sheet. My invention further contemplates improved means whereby the Valves controlling the pneumatics are entirely shut off from the pump when rerolling a music sheet. The above, and other advantageous features of my invention will hereinafter more fully appear, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view, partially in section and partially in side elevation, showing my invention applied to the pump and bellows of a pneumatic player action, the pump and bellows being shown at right angles from their normal position to more clearly illustrate the relation of the parts.

TRUSTEES, DOING BUSINESS AS SIMPLEX FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

7, 1921. Serial No. 513,620.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view illustrating a portion of the pneumatic player action of a musical instrument to which my invention is applied.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing the details of one of my improved valves as employed in Fig. 2, together with its associated pneumatic.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures.

Referring to Fig. 1, a vacuum pump 1 of the type usually employed in pneumatic player actions, is mounted below the key bed 2 of the instrument, and is adapted to be operated by one or more suitable foot pedals 3 which normally face toward the operator, but are here shown turned through substantially 90 to more clearly illustrate the application of my inventionthereto.

The pump 1 is connected to a reservoir or bellows 1 so that the operation of the pump by the pedals 3 will cause air to be exhausted from the bellows 1, in the usual manner. The bellows 4; is further connected to the pneumatic player action of the piano by means of pipes 5 and 6, and an air control box 7 is placed between the pipes 5 and 6 in order to control the passage of air to the bellows from the player action, as will be hereinafter described.

The control box 7 provides a. chamber 8 within which is received one end of the pipe 5. The pipe 6 also extends into the box 7 and is provided with a reduced portion 9 projecting into the chamber 8. The bottom of the box 7 is provided with a recess 10 located immediately below the open end of the pipe portion 9, and a flexible diaphragm 11 separates the recess 10 from the chamber 8. A tube 12 leads into the recess lO from a block 13 secured to the under side of the key'bed 2. The block 13 is provided with a longitudinal passage 14 extending therethrough and connecting the tube 12 toa' second tube 15 which leads to a second block 16, also secured to the under side of the key bed 2.

The block 16 is provided with a port 17 which is adapted to be closed by a flap valve 18 normally held in its closed position by a spring 19. In the position of the parts shown in Fig. 1, however, the lower end of the valve 18 is engaged by a portion of the bellows 4 which are shown as being expanded. With the parts in the position shown, it is obvious that as soon as the operator moves the pedals 3 to work the pump 1, a suction will be produced in the chamber 8 through th pipe 5, and as the under side of the diaphragm 11 is maintained at atmospheric pressure through the tubes 12 and 15 and the open port 17 ,the diaphragm will be drawn upwardly to close the open end of the pipe 6. This closes off the player action from the bellows 4 until the latter has been collapsed enough to allow the valve 18 to close the port 17 under the pressure of the spring 19, and it is obvious that this does not occur until a considerable vacuum has been produced in the bellows. lVhen the port 17 is thus closed by the valve 18, the

diaphragm 11 falls away from the open end of the pipe '6, owing to the existence of substantially atmospheric pressure in this pipe and the provision of a vent opening 20 between the recess 10 and the chamber 8. When this occurs, the pipe 6 connects the bellows 4 directly to the player action, which will now be described.

Referring now to Fig. 2, theplayer action consists of the usual series of hammers 21 mounted upon the action rail 22, each hammer being adapted to be operated by a jack 23 and a wippen arm 24. Each arm 24 is connected by a thrust rod 25- to a rocker arm 26, upon one end of which the rod 25 rests. Each rocker arm 26 is pivotally supported ata point intermediate its ends and is connected to a pneumatic 27 by means of a link 28. A spring 29 acting on the arm 26 normally tends to hold the parts in the position shown, in which all of the hammers 21 rest against the hammer rail 30.

As best shown in Fig. 3, each pneumatic consists of an expansible bellows portion 31 mounted upon a block 32 containing a valve mechanism for controlling the pneumatic. The block 32 is provided with apassage 33 extending from the bellows portion 31 to the lower side of the block. The block 32 is further provided with a passage 34 extending from one edge thereof and communicat ing with the passage 33 through port 35. A valve 36 normally rests on a shoulder 37 surrounding a port 38 in the lower face of the block 32. A stem 39 of the valve 36 extendsupwardly through the port 35 and terminates just below a flexible diaphragm 40 that separatespassage 34 from a recess 41 also provided in the block 32. The passage '34 of each block 32 is connected to an exhausting chamber 42 that is in turn connected to. the pipe6 leading from the air control b0 7 and the bellows 4. The recess 41 in each block is connected through a passage 41 to a tube 43 0f a tracker bar 44 that is provided with a plurality of openings 45 for receiving all of the tubes 43 leading from the valve mechanism. The

tracker bar 44 is adapted to support a music sheet 46 extending between amusic roll 47 and a winding roll 48, the sheet 46 being provided with note perforations adapted to register with the openings 45, as the sheet 46 is moved over the tracker bar 44 in the usual manner.

Referring again to Fig. 1, a lever 49 is pivotally mounted on the keybed 2 and, in the position shown, is adapted to so control the operating mechanism of the piano as to cause the music sheet 46 to be wound upon the roll 48 from the music roll 47.

The lever 49 is provided with a link 50, to

which is connected a valve 51 which, in the position shown, is adapted to cover a port 52 provided in the block 13 and conimuni- I cating with the passage 14 extending through the block 13 between the tubes 12 and 15. The port 52 is adapted to remain covered as long as the lever 49 remains in the position shown for winding the music sheet on the roll 48. hen, however, the lever 49 is moved to the left into the position shown in the dotted lines, to cause the music sheet 46 to be rewound upon the music roll 47 after a roll'of music has been played,the valve 51 is moved to the right to uncover the port 52, for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

' Having thus described the various parts entering into my invention, the operation thereof is as follows :The operator, having placed the music roll 47 in position, and having connected the music sheet 46 to the winding roll 48, moves the lever 49 to the tends to suck air from the player action through the then expanded bellows'4, but as the port 17 is then open, the diaphragm 11 immediately closes the open end of the pipe 6 and shuts off the player action from the bellows. At this moment all of the valves 36 are seated on the shoulders 37 so as to shut off the pneumatics 27 from the outside air, by closure of the lower ports 38.

As the operator continues to pedal, the pump 1 starts to exhaust the air from the bellows 4, thereby causing the/latter slowly to collapse. hen the bellows 4 collapse to a predetermined point, the valve 18, acting underthe' pressure of the spring 19, closes the port 17, whereupon the diaphragm 11 uncovers the end of the pipe 6 and establishes an uninterrupted connection between the player act-ion and the bel-- Nhen this occurs, it is obvious that j lows.

the upper face of all of the valves 36 will whereupon all the valves 36 will be raised simultaneously to close the ports 35 between the valve passages 33 and 34. lVhen this occurs, all of the bellows portions 31 of the pneumatics 27 will be fully distended. v

In the meantime, the music sheet 46 will have been wound upon the roll 48 sufliciently to cause one or more note openings in the sheet 46 to register with one or more open ings 45 in the tracker bar 44. lVhen a note opening 'registerswith an opening 45, it is obvious that air at atmospheric pressure will be admitted to the corresponding tube 43 and to the corresponding recess 41 in the valve block 32. The diaphragm 40 will thereupon move the corresponding valve 36 downwardly to close the port 38 and to connect the bellows portion 31to the exhausting chamber 42 through the port-35. The suction of the bellows 4 will thereupon draw air from the pneumatic and cause the portion 31 to collapse and move the rocker arm 26 in a counterclockwise direction through the link 28. This movement of the rocker arm 26 will be transmitted to the corresponding hammer 21 through the rod 25 and jack 23 and will cause a note to be struck by the hammer. It is obvious that the above described sequence of movements will occur each time that a note opening in the music sheet 46 registers with an opening 45 in the tracker bar 44.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that by my invention I have provided an improved arrangement whereby all of the valves for operating the pneumatics of the player action are adapted to be simultaneously and positively seated in position to operate the pneumatics before the commencement of the playing of the music sheet, so that there is no possibility of the valves fluttering, due to the fact that not enough suction has been created by the bellows 4. In other words, my invention automatically renders the bellows noneft'ective for seating the valves until after enough suction has been created to simultaneously bring all of the valves to their operating position. Furthermore, my invention provides means whereby the player action is automatically cut off from the bellows when it is desired to reroll a music sheet after it has been played. This is believed to be a distinct improvement over prior constructions in which the suction created by the necessary operation of the pump when rerolling is very liable to cause fluttering of the valves. Vith my improved construction however, the opening of the port 52 permits the pump 1 to draw the air directly through the tube 12 rat-her than from the player action, as in previous constructions.

WVhile I have shown my invention as applied to a particular arrangement of parts of a player action, it is not so limited but is susceptible of various modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim,

1. In a player for musical instruments, the combination with a valve mechanism for controlling a pneumatic player action and a suction creating device, of means controlled by said suction device for preventing the connection of said valve mechanism to said device until after the creation of a predetermined amount of suction by said device.

2. In a player for musical instruments, the combination with a valve mechanism for controlling a pneumatic player action and a suction creating device, of means for automatically connecting said valve mechanism to said device when a predetermined amount of suction has been'created thereby.

3. In a player action for musical instruments, the combination with a valve mechanism, a collapsible air reservoir and means for exhausting said reservoir, of means controlled from said air reservoir for preventing the connection of said reservoir to said valve mechanism until after the latter has been collapsed a predetermined amount.

4. In a player action for musical instruments, the combination with a valve mechanism, a collapsible air reservoir and means for exhausting said reservoir, of means for automatically connecting said valve mechanism to said reservoir when the latter has been exhausted a predetermined amount.

5. In a player action for musical instruments, the combination with a valve mechanism, a collapsible air reservoir and means for exhausting said reservoir, of means controlled by the degree of exhaustion of said reservoir for connecting said valve mechanism to said reservoir.

6. In a player action for musical instruments, the combination with a valve mechanism, a collapsible air reservoir and means for exhausting said reservoir, of means controlled by the amount of air in said reservoir for connecting said valve mechanism to said reservoir.

7. In a player for musical instruments, the combination with a plurality of valves each adapted to control a pneumatic, and a suction creating device, of means controlled by said suction device for preventing the connection of said valves to said device until after the latter has created enough suction to simultaneously operate all of said valves.

8. In a player for musical instruments, the combination with a. plurality of valves each adapted to control a pneumatic, and a suction creating device, of means for automatically connecting said valves to said de vice after the latter has created enough suction to simultaneously operate all of said valves.

9. In a player mechanism for musical instruments, the combination with a suction creating device, a plurality of pneumatics, and a plurality of valves each adapted in one position to shut off its pneumatic from said device, of means for automatically connecting said valves to said device after the latter has created enough suction to simultaneously move all of said valves in position to cut off said pneumatics from said device.

10. In a player mechanism for musical instruments, the combination with a collapsible air reservoir, means for exhausting the reservoir, a plurality of pneumatics and a lurality of valves each adapted to'be seated y gravity to connect its pneumatic to said reservoir, of means for automatically connecting sald valves to said reservoir only after the latter has been exhausted enough to simultaneously raise all of said valves to shut ofi said pneumatics from said reservo1r. r

11. In a player mechanism for musical instruments, the combination with a suction creating means, a vacuum chamber for operat-ing actuating pneumatics and a member for controlling the direction of movement of a music sheet, of a valve mechanism adapted to shut off said suction creating means from said vacuum chamber until such time as a redetermined suction is obtained, and additlonal means for closing said valve by the operation of said member.

12. In a player mechanism for musical instruments, the combination with a suction creating means, a vacuum chamber for operating actuating pneumatics and a member for controlling the direction of movement of a music sheet, of a diaphragm adapted to close the connection between said vacuum chamber and said suction creating means prior to the establishing of a predetermined degree of vacuum, said diaphragm being also controlled by said member.

THEODORE P. BROWN. 

